Nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy: results of noninvasive and invasive evaluation in 310 patients and clinical significance of bundle branch block.
BACKGROUND
The survival of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) at III and IV stages of New York Heart Association (NYHA) is decreased in those with a bundle branch block (BBB) compared to those without BBB. Less is known on the prognosis of patients at earlier stages of NYHA and who had a left BBB (LBBB) or right BBB (RBBB). We sought to evaluate the prevalence and the clinical significance of LBBB or RBBB in patients with IDCM and classes I and II of NYHA.


METHODS
Clinical data, noninvasive, and invasive studies were consecutively collected in 310 patients, with IDCM, followed up to 4.8+/-3.7 years.


RESULTS
Seventy-six patients (25%) had LBBB, 21 (7%) had RBBB, and 212 had no BBB. Patients with BBB were older than other patients (P < 0.009). Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was lower in LBBB than in RBBB and other patients (P < 0.05). Syncope was more frequent in BBB than in absence (P < 0.05). Incidence of spontaneous ventricular tachycardia (VT) and atrial fibrillation, VT induction, total cardiac events, and sudden death were similar in the presence or absence of BBB. Deaths by heart failure and heart transplantations tended to be more frequent in BBB than in absence.


CONCLUSIONS
LBBB was present in 25% of patients with IDCM; RBBB was rare. Patients with BBB were older and had more frequent syncope than patients without BBB; LVEF was lower in LBBB than in RBBB or in absence of BBB. BBB did not increase the risk of spontaneous VT, VT induction, or sudden death, and tended to increase deaths by heart failure and the indications of heart transplantation.
Brembilla-Perrot
Beatrice
B
Cardiology, CHU of Brabois, Vandoeuvre Les Nancy, France. b.brembilla-perrot@chu-nancy.fr
Alla
François
F
Suty-Selton
Christine
C
Huttin
Olivier
O
Blangy
Hugues
H
Sadoul
Nicolas
N
Chometon
Frédéric
F
Groben
Laurent
L
Luporsi
Jean D
JD
Zannad
Noura
N
Aliot
Etienne
E
Cedano
Juanico
J
Ammar
Sonia
S
Abdelaal
Ahmed
A
Juillière
Yves
Y
D002037:Bundle-Branch Block / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome